manynovel Page 123
Page 123
The fabric felt cool against her shoulders as it slid over her shoulders. Marina fastened the last button in front of the mirror, the freshwater seashell hair clip in her hair digging into her scalp and causing a slight pain.
She deliberately ignored the faint blush on the tips of her ears in the mirror, her fingertips brushing against the folds of her skirt.
"call--"
She forced a slightly stiff smile at herself in the mirror, her purple eyes shimmering under the light.
The girl, whose school uniform pleated skirt always had twelve pleats, adjusted the hem three times to ensure it draped naturally.
As my fingertips finally traced the perfect arc, dusk seeped in through the blinds, casting a warm, golden glow on the doorknob.
The wooden door hinges made a very faint "click" sound.
Marina looked down to check if her skirt was neat, not seeing in the mirror a faint smile concealing a hesitation deeper than the twilight.
Like a flower blooming out of season, clearly blossoming in the promised direction, yet its roots are still entangled with unmelted spring snow.
creak.
She had just stepped out of the bedroom.
The aroma of instant coffee wafted from the living room.
Then, they heard Ellie talking to someone in the living room...
"Brother Qiu Bai, did you come to see me? Why did you come so suddenly?"
Ellie sat on the sofa and muttered to Qiu Bai beside her, her two bright blue eyes fixed on him.
"Nothing, just missed Airi..." Qiu Bai was saying to Airi when his gaze shifted to Marina, who had just come out of the bedroom. He unconsciously raised an eyebrow and asked, "Marina? What's going on here..."
Qiu Bai's fingertips traced the rim of the mug. Suddenly, he looked up at Marina's very beautiful outfit, and his expression seemed somewhat...
Accident".
Marina's knuckles turned white as she gripped the doorknob, the pleats of her light brown plaid skirt trembled gently in the night breeze, and her legs were pressed together uneasily.
She was like a startled butterfly, futilely trying to fold her already disheveled wings.
She never expected that the man she had been thinking about would suddenly appear in front of her.
There's no denying that Qiu Bai is the most handsome man she's ever seen...
"This, this..."
Marina hooked her little fingers together, suddenly at a loss for what to do.
Although I heard that Qiu Bai recently took a break from school, he is still the student council secretary, so I can't just casually tell him that I'm going on a date with Masato Ohno.
"Nothing, I just wanted to go to the convenience store to buy some groceries... so I can have them for breakfast tomorrow..."
Marina is definitely not good at lying; her little face turned bright red as she said this.
"Sigh~ My sister was clearly going to—"
Ellie was only halfway through her grumbling when...
Tatata!
Marina's heels scraped harshly on the floor as she almost stumbled forward, her palms tightly covering her sister's chattering mouth.
She knew her sudden action was strange, but she absolutely couldn't let Qiu Bai know about it.
Ellie... what's wrong with you?
How can you say such things!
Marina was already numb, but she decided she couldn't let Airi say it out loud, otherwise...
"Hehehe..." Marina laughed awkwardly, her smile a little stiff, but she still said, "I want to go to the convenience store with... Airi to buy some groceries..."
As she spoke, she secretly pinched Ellie's lips with her hand covering Ellie's small mouth, signaling her not to talk nonsense.
"Um..."
Airi was also in a bit of pain from being squeezed, but she listened to Marina and didn't say anything more.
Yes, of course... She had said everything she needed to say before Mari came down.
So, there's nothing more to say now.
"Oh? Marina... how about I go with you?"
Qiu Bai shrugged and suggested to Marina with interest, placing the mug of coffee he was holding on the table, a smile unconsciously playing on his lips, "It's so late at night, I'm worried about letting you go out alone... don't you think so, Airi?"
After hearing Qiu Bai's words, Ai Li nodded repeatedly, looking very much in agreement.
"Yes, I support Brother Qiu Bai!"
She started yelling.
Ai Li obediently cooperated with Qiu Bai, which made Qiu Bai's smile even wider.
If it were the old "tsundere" version of Airi, she would definitely argue with herself and refuse, but this time Airi is acting like a spoiled wife.
“Aili, you…”
Marina really didn't know what to do, while Masato Ohno was waiting for her in a nearby park.
If Qiu Bai were to follow, it wouldn't seem right, would it?
What if we encounter this situation and get misunderstood?
She felt somewhat lost.
"Sigh~" Marina finally sighed helplessly, no longer wanting to continue the stalemate, and nodded slightly, "Hmm... alright then, I'll go with you..."
She was a little nervous, but she didn't want Qiu Bai to find out that she was in a relationship.
There was nothing else she could do; Marina had no other options at the moment.
"Okay~"
Ellie smiled, looking absolutely adorable.
Qiu Bai looked at the two girls and nodded slightly, then said, "Let's go to the CLOVER convenience store then."
“Well… okay…” Marina agreed, but she was clearly preoccupied with something.
Chapter 148 Worrying
Under the pitch-black night sky, the moon was obscured by dark clouds, and the streetlights illuminated the road.
Three figures walked down the street, with Marina sandwiched between Akihachi and Airi.
"Sister, it's quite rare to see you walking down the street like this at night with Brother Qiubai~"
Ellie came out wearing a white shirt and a red plaid skirt, with her hands behind her back.
As she walked, she bent down to look at Qiu Bai beside her, her heart filled with joy.
"Ah~"
Marina sighed inwardly, her purple eyes glancing at Airi beside her with a hint of annoyance.
She really didn't understand what Ellie was up to.
The evening breeze ruffled Qiu Bai's black, tousled hair, causing it to sway in the wind.
"Indeed, there are very few."
Qiu Bai responded to Ai Li's words.
drip~
His phone suddenly rang.
Qiu Bai took out his phone from his pocket to see who had sent him the message.
[Sunday, April 04, 1720:24]
[Qiong: Where are you?]
He stroked his chin, pondering for a moment.
It seems that Qiong has realized she's gone...
This is really bad...
Qiu Bai pondered to himself.
[Qiu Bai: I'm outside, I'll be back in a bit.]
[Qiong: Come back soon.]
He looked at the message Qiong sent and felt something was strange; Qiong seemed not to care at all.
Is this Kyō's personality?
Shouldn't she at least ask a couple more questions?
Just as Qiu Bai was looking at his phone, feeling something was off.
Marina leaned closer to Airi's ear and whispered something in her ear, sounding a little annoyed:
"Hey... Airi, what exactly are you trying to do? I told you... I was meeting with Masato today, right?"
There was clearly some blame in her tone, after all, all of Airi's previous actions were obviously intended to expose Marina and Masato Ohno's affair.
"hey-hey……"
Airi stuck out her tongue cutely, then hugged Marina's arm and muttered, "This is the first time that Akihachi-nii has asked us to play! It's more important to spend time with Akihachi-nii than with that Masato, right?"
"Huh? Qiu Bai-ge...didn't you call him over?" Marina frowned in dissatisfaction, then retorted to Airi.
Ellie shook her head.
"Who said that? Qiu Bai came here specifically to find us~ It wasn't me who called him~" Airi rubbed her cheek against Marina's shoulder, her two blue eyes looking at Marina, "Sister, you've misunderstood me, haven't you?"
Marina blinked, suddenly feeling somewhat surprised.
Wasn't it Ellie who sent Qiu Bai?
Did I misunderstand Ellie?
She looked at Ellie with suspicion, but Ellie didn't seem to be lying.
Ellie wouldn't lie to herself...
"It's really not you?"
Marina asked with some doubt, but she didn't dare to speak too loudly, as if she was afraid that Akihachi would hear her.
"of course."
Ellie nodded quickly.
Marina still believed Airi, but she was still a little confused.
Could it really be... just a coincidence?
"Hehe... Now that Brother Qiubai is here, is Sister still going to go find Yaren? Then I can be alone with Brother Qiubai~"
Airi responded softly to Marina, her eyes filled with both anticipation and joy.
But Marina didn't feel good after hearing this, as it made her think that Airi and Akihachi should be together...
She touched her chest, but didn't understand why those words made her feel so uncomfortable.
"I……"
Marina quietly took out her phone and glanced at it. She saw that the boy with the nickname "Masato" in his contact name kept sending her messages.
[Masato: Marina? Are you almost there?]
[Masato: I've arrived.]
She was a little confused and was just about to send a message to the other party.
At this moment, Qiu Bai also put his phone into his pocket, looked at Marina beside him, and said:
"Maria, what do you want to buy?"
Marina was startled by Akihaku's sudden words and hurriedly put her phone away before she could even type anything.
"Buy..." She paused slightly, her mind racing, then continued, "Buy some bread, vegetables, ham... and things like that..."
"We can make sandwiches tomorrow morning."